In COmanage terminology, there has been some confusion regarding the difference between a Collaborative Organization (CO) and a Collaborative Organization Unit (COU). In short, a CO is the parent organization, and the COU are the departments, the wholly owned subsidiaries, the working groups covered to some extent by the policies and procedures of the CO. This is more than just a nested group concept, since this involves more than collections of people and roles. It is the concept of groups combined with workflows, assurance levels, the management of data and processes at different levels.
CO Definition
CO: A collection of people collaborating together with a common workflow for adding additional collaborators and with common policies for vetting the identities of collaborators. Virtual organizations are one possible form of Collaborative Organization. A CO provides the essential IT infrastructure supporting collaborations between people so that the traditional limitations of localized applications may be overcome.
COU Definition
COU: The COU is an optional construct to allow you to define a hierarchy within a CO. (e.g. a self-contained collection or department within a CO; a collection of privileges within a CO). Some of the workflow for enrolling people may have details specific to a COU.